U.K. MIDWEEKS: FOALS, DRAKE VIE FOR #1

Drake’s surprise release, Honestly, Nevermind (OVO/Republic), is sitting just 6k in sales behind Foals’ Life Is Yours (Warner) on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart, while Kate Bush is eyeing a second week at #1 at singles.

Foals’ seventh studio album is looking to repeat the chart-topping feat of their last release, 2019’s Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part II. Will the numbers be strong enough to keep Drake from securing his fifth U.K. #1 album with the digital-only Honestly, Nevermind?

Elsewhere, the physical release of A Light for Attracting Attention (XL), the debut from The Smile, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood’s side project, is at #3, enjoying its first visit to the Top 5.

A 50th anniversary half-speed master reissue of David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (Parlophone) is sitting at #7. Reissues from Prince and The Beach Boys are also looking at Top 30 debuts.

The first collaboration between actress/singer Jessie Buckley and former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, For All Our Days That Tear the Heart (EMI), is #9 at mid-week. Nova Twins’ second studio LP, Supernova (Marshall), is #11, vying to become their first U.K. Top 20.

At singles, Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” (Noble & Brite/Parlophone) has a firm hold on the top slot for a second week. LF System’s “Afraid to Feel” (Warner) moves up to #3.

Drake has three new tracks in the Top 10: “Falling Back” at #4, “Texts Go Green” at #6 and “Jimmy Cooks” f/21 Savage at #7. “Glimpses of Us,” the breakout single from 12 Tone’s Joji, is currently #19.